Fishermen walk past the “Paseo del Prado” hotel of the Canadian chain Blue Diamond in Havana on Tuesday.Image: keystone
June 2, 2026, 7:52 p.mJune 2, 2026, 7:52 p.m
After the US government threatened sanctions, the powerful Cuban military company Gaesa is losing international business partners in the hotel industry on the Caribbean island. Cuba’s socialist government described the US measures as the “largest, most excessive and most dangerous escalation” of tensions with Washington to date.
Hotel chains such as Iberostar from Spain, Royalton from Canada (formerly Blue Diamond) and Archipelago International from Indonesia have begun to partially withdraw from Cuba, according to media reports.
A guest sits at a lobby bar in Havana, Cuba.Image: AP/AP
The government of US President Donald Trump imposed new sanctions against Gaesa at the beginning of May. The aim is to deprive the country’s communist military leadership and elites of access to assets. Foreign banks and companies will also face sanctions from June 5th if they continue to work with the group. It is estimated that Gaesa controls at least 40 percent of the Cuban economy in various sectors.
According to Cuba, Washington wants to isolate the island nation economically
Havana sharply criticized the US sanctions. “The declared goal is to isolate the country diplomatically, economically, financially and in the energy sector,” it said. Gaesa is neither an opaque structure nor an instrument for the enrichment of a few. Rather, in view of the “economic war” in the United States since the 1990s, the company has played a decisive role in the well-being of the Cubans with investments in infrastructure and social projects.
People chat in a cafe in HavanaImage: keystone
The tourism industry is in crisis
The tourism industry in Cuba has not recovered since the corona pandemic. Added to this is the economic crisis and ongoing power outages, which are deterring visitors. The latest US sanctions against oil deliveries to Cuba have further aggravated the situation. Due to the lack of fuel, numerous airlines have stopped their connections to the Caribbean island.
Iberostar confirmed on Tuesday that it would cease management of 12 hotels in Cuba belonging to Gaesa’s hotel subsidiary Gaviota. According to its own information, the company was previously the second largest hotel chain in the country and operated a total of 18 hotels there.
According to media reports, the background to the move is the announced tightening of US sanctions policy. However, Iberostar did not explicitly confirm this connection, but spoke of a “critical and complex” situation in Cuba. (sda/dpa)